September 2009

09/23/2009

This morning i finished off Polly however now that she's all stitched up i'm really not sure about her face. I must admit i did rush doing the embroidery last night and should really have copied the one i did for Molly which was alot cuter but never mind i'm all for a bit of trial and error!!

09/21/2009

Yesterday i finally managed to complete a little task which had been on my 'to do list' for some time now. I have been fortunate to have been given lots of sewing threads from family and friends over the years but have never got round to organizing them properly. They have always been stored in boxes and bags and i was always frustrated with myself when i could never find 'that' colour despite having it 'only the other day'. I had been looking out for a wooden cotton reel holder stand like the ones i had seen in so many photo's of beautiful craft rooms but could never find one big enough to hold all those threads - and then yesterday i had a little 'eureka' moment.

About six months ago i had bought a vintage printers drawer for £10 from a local Antiques auction - because i just had to have it but had never found a use for it and so it had lived down the side of a cupboard for the last few months.

And so yesterday after a productive hour (whilst leaving a 2 year old with some calico and felt tip pens) i finally got my threads sorted - i must admit i did fight the urge to organize in colours (maybe i'll come back to it one day) but for now i'm just glad i can finally see all those threads when i need them x

09/17/2009

This little treasure arrived on my doorstep this morning and i can't wait to put my feet up with a cuppa and have a good old read. Despite ordering it from Amazon way before its release date in August it has taken this long to arrive (ggrrrrr) Anyway i'm going to wait until i have no interruptions (telephone and mobile turned off!) before i delve again into the wonderful world of Amanda Blake Soule. Since finding her blog a few years back i have been totally hooked - i read her previous book the creative family from cover to cover and couldn't wait for Handmade Home to be released. So despite my unexpected wait - its here - finally and i'm going to enjoy every page x

09/15/2009

This weekend we joined in the fun at the artsfest in Birmingham and had a great time. There are so many things to do and see and so many activities for kiddies - just need to get myself organized next year so we can squeeze more in! My favourite was a fantastic giant wire cake where children (and big children) were invited to place comments for special occasions on strips of coloured paper which was then woven into the frame. There was also room to add little beaded tags and fabric rings - and the overall effect was beautiful. We added our own little message for my sister and hubby's wedding anniversary.

Ava also had fun making balloon people, fabric printing and dancing the all the great music

I also bought some sweet hand printed paper and cards from some local artists - Ruth Green and Catherine Bowdler - am just loving the cheese and mouse wrapping paper x

09/12/2009

After all the girly things i've made recently i felt it was only fair to give some little boys in the world something top get a little messy. The cute fabric was from the Festival of Quilts and the bibs were made for some of my mums friends new grandsons - am loving the blue after all the pink!

09/11/2009

Yesterday daddy had the day off work so we headed off on safari - not the Serengeti i'm afraid (maybe one day) but we loved it all the same. Boy do those giraffes and zebras know a thing or two about pattern! To show Ava all those beautiful creatures up close and personal was fantastic and i'm sure as she gets older we'll make a family decision if we feel zoos / animal parks are a nice place to be but just for now it was lovely.

and what better way to finish the day than a trip in a pink carriage x

09/09/2009

Last weekend little Ava moved from her cot to a big bed - i tried telling her to stop being naughty and to stop growing up because mummy and daddy felt like it was only last week that we put the cot together. Oh how they grow so quickly - even daddy had a lump in his throat as we dismantled it and put it into storage.

Ava's big new bed is a beautiful Victorian wooden bed which was a little steal from ebay. It was covered in several bad coats of paint and varnish so we had it dipped and sanded it down ready for a fresh coat of paint.

I admit we did ponder over whether to paint it or leave it bare - it seemed so wrong to cover it in paint again but it would never have gone with the rest of the furniture in Avas bedroom had we left it bare.

And so after several coats of white paint - little (but getting bigger) Ava has a lovely new big bed to cuddle up in (and yes daddy has already fallen asleep in it whilst reading Ava her bedtime story)

09/07/2009

My sister 'dragged' me along to a crafters guild meeting tonight at a local country park where she had been asked to show some of her handmade soaps (must do a little post on them when i've got some decent piccies). At the meeting there were various crafters showing their 'wares' - beaders, silk painters, lace makers (oh my god what patience and how on earth do you not tangle all those threads and bobbins up!!!), knitters and a lovely lady Valerie giving a demonstration on Quilling.

Now when my sister was a child my parents bought her a Quilling kit from a craft fair and as i wanted to do everything my elder sister did i soon started twisting and twirling the paper myself - although i also remember getting very messy with glue and trying to get sticky paper off my fingers! Anyway tonight i watched intently as Valerie produced some beautiful flowers from strips of coloured paper using a technique i had never tried which involved cutting the paper to produce lovely fringed flower (again wish i'd taken my camera). So as my sister and i watched and dreamt about what else we could use this technique for - leather, fabric etc. she turned to me and said

" You know i've still got that old case full of all the quilling stuff" - "not that old blue case" i said "no it's white with a blue satin lining" - and then i remembered it also had a broken handle which mum had replaced with string -- and suddenly i felt the urge to start quilling again except this time without gluing myself to the paper!

On my return home i have just fired up the lap top and googled quilling to find some images when i stumbled across images of work by YuliaBrodskay which have left me totally blown away. I just had to share them with you as they are some of the most beautiful things i have ever seen.

As for that little white case with the blue lining and string handle - i might just have to take a little peek inside (just for the nostalgia of course!) x

09/06/2009

For the last few days i've been stealing time to make some more baby gifts for a friends niece. I had recently made them some baby gifts for their own new little daughter (See For Gracie) and they asked me to make some for their little niece Connie (also my own nieces beautiful name). They asked if i could find some pistachio green and pink fabric and luckily enough i had a little snippet of some Amy Butler fabric (who else!) which had the perfect colour combination so i headed off to my favourite local store The Cotton Patch to get some more. I actually Surprised myself with how well behaved i was and only came away with what i needed (although so many other gorgeous fabrics seemed to be calling out to me to take them home!)

So i finished the little bundle of goodies today and dropped them off this evening - luckily they loved the fabrics ( who wouldn't) and then came the really tough discussion of how much they owed me!. I really find this hard as i completely struggle with how much to charge friends - friends who we have known for years and who have helped us out and vice verse- but discussing money with people is another matter - should i even charge them at all!. However if i am to turn this little venture of mine into something i realise that i have to charge and friends are more than willing to pay me for my time - but god do i struggle with this. Anyway luckily i came up with a solution (if somewhat strange) that they would pay me a certain amount to cover my materials and then the rest they would pay for in fresh fish! - stay with me - you see for a while now they have been buying some fresh fish for us from their local fish monger who sells the most amazing fish (oh how i wished we lived on the coast) - so i asked if they could supply us with fish for a couple of weeks and then that way we would be even.

Phew - that way the decision on how much they pay will be shifted to them and i don't have to come up with an awkward figure - chicken i know - and i know i need to handle this situation better but i'm sure as i start to make more things i will get quicker and will get more of an idea as to my costs.

Anyway hope you like the little gifts - will let you know how good the fish tastes x

09/03/2009

A lovely friend of mine recently had her second little daughter Ianthe (cypriot name) so i thought i'd send her a little pair of shoes to keep her little toes warm as the weather is starting to get cooler. I used a lovely little Kaffee Fassett fabric i had been hoarding in my fabric cupboard.